Resources for navigating PMC submission

How to submit

Manuscripts must be submitted to PubMed Central for compliance with NIH Public Access Policy. There are four ways to do this. Which method is most appropriate depends on the journal, the publisher, and/or the author’s publishing agreement and preference. A detailed description of the submission methods can be found on the NIH website.

Please note that under Submission Method D, even though a publisher may make the initial deposit of the manuscript to NIHMS, it is the responsibility of the author to follow through with submission to PMC in the post-publication period.

Tracking progress

Authors can track a manuscript’s progress through the system with the My Bibliography feature of My NCBI.

Important note: If your journal says it will deposit manuscripts on your behalf, it may be that they are only doing so a year or more after acceptance — or only when the author follows up with them. It may be a good idea to contact your publisher to ensure that the journal is really submitting the manuscript, and emphasize that if it is not deposited within a reasonable time after acceptance, then you are in violation of your and/or NACC’s NIH terms. If you encounter long delays or do not receive a response from your publisher, you may need to submit the manuscript yourself.